


TUA Tickle Fic Week 2020

by spritewrites (giggly__gay)



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Gen, Tickle Fights, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:00:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28092051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giggly__gay/pseuds/spritewrites
Summary: Here were my submissions to TUA Tickle Fic Week 2020!The event was organized by @anasticklefics on Tumblr, and information about it can be found on her blog. All of these fics were originally posted on Tumblr during the week of Nov 23.
Kudos: 17





	1. Day 1 - Luther

It wasn’t really the groan that pulled Vanya into Luther’s room. It was mostly the laundry in her arms, freshly folded and ready to be put back on her brother’s mattress. But the sound made her look up, and instantly she was at his side, asking about the ankle he was holding gingerly in his hands.

“Oh. It’s probably nothing, really, I was running this morning and I – I don’t know, I think I rolled something? Sprained something? I can take care of it.”

The line of Vanya’s brow knotted in concern, and she dropped the stack of clean linens on the pillow. “Okay, well that’s… that could be pretty serious, Luther. I should probably take a look at it.”

“Do you… know anything about rolled ankles?”

She shrugged. “I mean, not really, but I sat in on enough of Mom healing you all when we were kids that I know what a hurt ankle looks like.”

Her brother hesitated, wary, then nodded. Vanya gave him a soft smile, the one she saved for her siblings, and knelt by the side of his bed to inspect the leg in question. Honestly, it looked fine. Not swollen, as she feared. Maybe a bit red from his poking around, but all in all, okay. He’d probably want to stay off it for a few days, just in case.

Her fingertips prodded around the ankle bone, and Luther’s bottom lip disappeared between his teeth with a sharp breath, a blush taking over his face. Vanya stopped short.

“Am I hurting you?”

“No, just – please be careful.”

She nodded, her touch feather-light – although the twitching of his leg didn’t seem to let up at all. In fact, it seemed to get sharper, more frequent, as Luther’s face screwed up in concentration. Conscious of further injuring her brother, she adjusted her grip from his ankle to his foot. A noise somewhere between a snort and a giggle escaped him, startling them both.

“Excuse me?”

“I – forget you heard that.”

Vanya raised an eyebrow, and the color on Luther’s cheeks darkened. “Sure,” she replied, watching her brother let some of the tension in his chest go – only to zip a finger up his sole. This time it was _definitely_ a giggle.

“You’re ticklish.” It wasn’t a question, and Luther’s face was redder than ever.

“I – Vanya…”

It came out like a warning, but Vanya knew what it really was – a plea, a desperate one. But honestly, if her brother knew her at all (which she suspected he did, by the fact that he was begging already) he knew that she couldn’t turn down an opportunity like this.

“You’re not even denying it.” A tweak to one of his toes – now _that_ was a snort.

“I c-can’t – Vanya!” Luther yelped as another finger slipped down the bottom of his foot, and he managed to twist his ankle out of Vanya’s grip – only for her to grab the other one and scribble ticklish fingers down _that_ foot.

With a cry, Luther yanked his knee back into his chest, seemingly hoping to use the momentum to pull his leg out of her grasp, but he underestimated her strength and they both ended up tumbling onto the bed. Vanya was giggling like mad, weak and rolling, and in an effort to right herself, she leaned on Luther’s leg and squeezed.

Luther jumped nearly out of his skin, a laugh tripping out of his throat as he tugged hard on his leg. With a bit of super strength, he managed to come free and scrambled back onto the pillows, giggling.

Vanya straightened, still half-laughing herself, and gave him a meaningful look. “Okay, so _very_ ticklish.”

Luther rolled his eyes, a smile still playing on his lips. “Look—”

“Aha! You admit it!”

“I didn’t admit anyth— _Vanya_!”

And okay, maybe he didn’t admit it outright. But Vanya knew enough about her family to know that they didn’t go down without a fight – and that was just fine with her.


	2. Day 2 - Diego

“FUCK!”

A leg thumped against Lila’s back as her fingers tripped up trembling ribs and dug into Diego’s armpits. He snorted on a laugh, nearly choking.

“ _Please_ , I – I can’t, I _can’t_ , I really – _shit_!” he cried, jerking as her hands slipped nimbly out from under his arms and sending him tumbling back into giggles with ticklish pokes to his sides.

“Language,” Lila chided, giving an electrifying squeeze to his left side. Diego jumped, shrieked, and kicked out once more, only succeeding in getting his legs tangled in the sheets. Another squeeze, another yell.

“Okay, _okay_ , just – god, please, _Lila_!”

The dreadful squeezing stopped and her touch lightened, but she kept her hands on his sides, giggling and tracing designs up and down as he caught his breath a little. “Okay, yeah, prioritizing oxygen, fair enough.”

Diego chuckled at that, then groaned. “God, my abs hurt.”

“These?” Lila poked gently at his stomach, and Diego sucked in a harsh breath.

“Watch it,” he growled, but Lila only laughed.

“Threats from the most ticklish vigilante known to man? I’m terrified, sweetheart.” Finally, finally, she let go of his sides and collapsed on top of him, wrapping her arms around his waist. Diego hugged her close and buried his nose in her hair.

“Mmm… squishin’ me,” he mumbled, squeezing around her middle. Lila snorted.

“You don’t mind.”

“Might mind. If you keep being so snarky.” His arms tightened.

“Okay, knife boy, lemme go,” she wheezed, wiggling and trying to burrow her hands between his arms and her body to release his hold. In her efforts, her fingers wormed their way over his triceps, and Diego – well, Diego snorted.

Lila stopped short. “What was _that_.”

“Nothing.” His eyes were as big as hers, and he could feel heat creeping up his neck to his cheeks.

Lila raised one eyebrow, and Diego gulped – or at least, he tried to, but he ended up almost choking on it as her fingers, trapped between his upper arms and his ribs, wriggled again.

“Oh?”

In an instant, his hands were back over his head in a pin that he knew from experience was nearly impossible to break. He bit his lip.

“Lila…”

“Now this—” a nail dragged slowly from the joint of his elbow about halfway down – “This is interesting.” Diego let out a whine, drawing Lila’s gaze back to his face. “You’ve been keeping this from me.”

“I haven’t, I swear,” he stammered, trying to subtly detangle his legs from the sheets. The muscles in his arms clenched. “Listen, I—”

Lila wasn’t paying attention. Her eyes were locked on the soft insides of his upper arms, the plane of quivering skin that stretched between his elbow joint and his armpit. “Arms, Diego? I thought you couldn’t get any cuter.”

“M’not—” he started, then broke into a peal of giggles as she trailed her fingers gently down his right tricep. _Christ_ , that was even worse than he thought it was going to be.

Any hopes he had of keeping himself even somewhat under control vanished as Lila’s ticklish touch reached the edge of his underarm and lingered, drawing little shapes right at the edge of the hair there and driving Diego nearly out of his mind. Exactly at the point where he was certain he couldn’t take anymore, that his arms or his lungs or his brain would give out, her fingers turned and traveled back the way they came, up toward his elbow.

He kicked, squealed, squirmed, and tried his best to beg, but Lila seemed relentless. At one point he let out a noise akin to a squeak as her nails touched the curve of his inner elbow, and he felt his face burn at the amused scrunch of his girlfriend’s nose.

Eventually, right when he felt his ribs start to ache from the endless giggling and his eyes had closed long ago in an effort to stop the tears of laughter, he felt the grip on his wrists slacken. A quick pressure on his nose – a kiss – shocked his eyes back open, where he met Lila’s smiling gaze.

“Have fun?”

“Fun?” he choked, still taking in air. “You tortured me!”

“Not what I asked,” Lila shot back, grinning. “Did you have fun?”

Diego opened his mouth to answer, closed it, opened it again. He felt his face turn red. “Not fair.”

“All’s fair in love and war sweetheart,” she laughed, kissing him on the cheek and resuming her cuddling position.

Diego grumbled to himself, hiding his smile in her hair. “I’m _so_ getting you back for this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr: spritewrites
> 
> Originally posted on Tumblr on 11/24/20


	3. Day 3 - Allison

It wasn’t a snort. Not really.

A snort would’ve been more… in her nose. Harsher. Uglier.

This was more like…

“I can’t believe you,” Klaus giggled. The force of his laughter nearly tipped him off his perch on the edge of the sofa, but he caught himself just in time.

“You know, denial is stage one of paradox psychosis,” Five chimed in from behind his book. Allison flipped him off.

“You’re all assholes.”

“Assholes who’ve known you for thirty years,” Vanya reminded her, just as Klaus took another jab at her waist.

Allison huffed, slouching into the couch. (The slouch was definitely to show how displeased she was with their behavior. Definitely not to protect her sides from their evil pokes. Definitely not that.) Okay, so _maybe_ it was a bit of a snort. But it wasn’t her fault. Tickling during family game night was probably illegal. Or at the very least, a punishable offense.

Wrinkling her nose, she managed to edge a little further away from Klaus without running into Diego on her other side. Family game nights had become a Hargreeves tradition since they reunited, especially on cold nights like this one, but the siblings had yet to shake their childhood competitive tendencies. So basically, game nights went hard.

The family was gathered around a tiny coffee table, much too small for all five (six, technically, Ben was on Klaus’ team) of the players, so they had to spread out. Still, Allison figured that even slumped into the sofa, she could probably reach the board when it was her turn.

If she ever got her turn, with Klaus reaching into her personal space at every chance he got.

She slapped away another attempted prod, glaring. “Distractions are against the rules.”

Across the table, Luther rolled his eyes, drawing another card. “You know, Allison, maybe he wouldn’t have to distract you if you didn’t cheat.”

Allison’s jaw fell open. “Cheat? Me? I would never!”

“Have before and would again,” Five corrected from his armchair by the fire. She whipped around to face him.

“Okay, if you’re not going to play, you’re not part of this.”

“I’m a spectator.”

“You’re a dickhead, is what you are, and when I get my hands on you – AH!”

Her legs slammed into her chest, jerking her knee out of Klaus’ ticklish grip. Unfortunately, without her legs for balance, she tipped sideways and fell into Diego’s lap.

Fortunately, she was pretty sure that Diego was scared of her after her last win (she did a screaming lap around the mansion that had everybody clapping their hands over their ears to protect themselves), and he wasn’t likely to join in on the mischief anytime soon. Unfortunately, landing sideways jostled her enough that the scarf around her neck came undone – and out of it tumbled about six playing cards, which fluttered to the floor. _Crap._

“I KNEW it!” Klaus shrieked. The force of his fist pump sent him off the arm of the sofa and into the space that Allison had previously occupied, wedging her between two of her more chaotic brothers. Okay, not good. Time for her specialty: talking her way out of this.

“Listen,” she began, but Vanya was already on her feet.

“You asshole! You _were_ cheating!”

“I—”

She tried. She really did. Promise. It’s just that somebody was already pinching at the backs of her ribs, and the shocked laughter being forced through her teeth was probably not ideal for convincing her siblings of her innocence.

“What? Not defending yourself?”

“I h—I heard a ru— _Klaus_ ,” she wheezed, shoving fruitlessly at his nagging fingers. Klaus was grinning, biting his lip to try to hide it.

“Yes?”

“Go _away_!” Allison tried to roll her eyes, then yelped as another hand – Diego’s, the bastard – worked its way between her arm and side. “F-fuck off!”

“Her underarms are the worst,” Luther advised, hiding his smile in his hand of cards. Diego smirked, and Allison shrieked.

“Not fahahair!”

“Cheaters never prosper,” he chuckled, trying to wriggle his hand up to her underarm against the force of the elbow that was held tight to her side.

Allison scrunched her nose, fighting back laughter and curling up as best she could. “P-prosper? Thahat’s a big word for you, Diego—”

“Okay, that’s it.”

So, Allison didn’t win. C’est la vie. And yeah, maybe she didn’t take a giggle-free breath for a while; it’s tough to be ticklish when you have four siblings who all need a “turn” (and one old man who _refuses_ to help). Revenge, she knew, would be sweet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr: spritewrites
> 
> Originally posted on Tumblr on 11/25/20


	4. Day 4 - Klaus

“Shh.”

A finger lifted to Klaus’ lips, and in a flash of mischief, he stretched out his tongue to lick it.

“Ew, weirdo,” Dave laughed, quickly retracting his hand to wipe it on the corner of his shirt.

“You love me.”

“Unfortunately,” Dave teased, but the smile on his face was warm. Klaus snickered, his shoulders shaking with the effort of trying to stay quiet.

“Bully.”

“Only to you.”

“Oh, I’m special?”

It was meant as a tease, but Dave’s gentle eyes softened. “So special.”

Their lips met in a soothing kiss, and Klaus could feel the tension in his body slip away. A stray hand slid up his lover’s back to the back of his shoulder, rubbing gently between the shoulder blades, and he shivered at the warm breath on his cheek as Dave sighed gratefully. The two swayed, once, gently, the echo of a dance with no music.

Klaus tried not to gasp aloud at the sudden feeling of soft fingertips on his side, working their way up under his shirt. “What’re—” he cleared his throat— “what’re you doing?”

“Like your tattoos,” Dave mumbled into his shoulder. “Wanna feel ‘em.”

“You can’t feel tattoos, sweetheart. S’just skin,” Klaus corrected him, pressing a brief kiss into Dave’s scalp.

“ _I_ can,” Dave replied stubbornly, as his hand crept around to his lover’s back. “Tiger’s here.”

Klaus rolled his eyes over his head, where he couldn’t see. “Okay, well you can’t cheat, you’ve just memorized—”

“You’ve got the Sky Soldiers one on your arm, with the umbrella.” He lifted his head out of Klaus’ shoulder to meet his gaze. “What’s the umbrella for? You never told me.”

Klaus swallowed. “S’nothing. From a long time ago.”

Dave’s eyes were piercing in the dim light, and Klaus could see concern there, mixed in with the love so thick that they couldn’t be separated. Another swallow.

“Okay,” Dave finally said, burrowing back into Klaus’ chest. “I’ll find out later.”

Klaus’ breath hitched, worried that his lover could feel the thumping of his heart in his ribcage. “Davey, I—” He was stopped short at the feeling of warm touch on his stomach.

“And here’s ours,” Dave was mumbling, tripping clumsy fingers over the soft skin. Klaus tried to reply, but his mouth was glued shut; if he opened it, he couldn’t be certain what sounds would come out.

“It goes up here, like this…” Devilishly gentle fingers skimmed over his ribs, tracing the outline of the temple on his abdomen, and goddamn it, Klaus couldn’t help it. He squeaked, just once, then coughed. He could only hope that Dave hadn’t—

“What was that?”

Klaus glanced up to find Dave staring incredulously at him.

“Nothing.”

“Didn’t seem like nothing. You hurt?” A gentle hand cupped his chin. God, even in stupid moments like this, Dave was frustratingly caring.

“S’nothing, I promise, I just—hey!”

The hand had returned to his stomach, pressing into his shirt right at the base of the tattoo. Klaus squirmed, but he knew he was fucked the second he saw Dave’s face light up.

“Are you ticklish?”

“Look, I…” Klaus sucked in a breath as Dave’s touch trailed downward, over his shirt, catching on the wrinkles in the fabric. Warm breath met his ear, and he shivered. Holy _fuck_ , that tickled.

“Not hearing a no, baby,” Dave murmured, and Klaus could _feel_ his smile in his neck. Damn it. Those devious fingers made their way under his shirt, and he swore he’d never jumped so high.

“ _Dave_.”

“Okay, okay,” Dave replied, laughing to himself. “I’ll stop.”

Well, shit. That’s a whole different problem.

“Well, hey, listen, I…” Klaus managed to meet his gaze, and it was all innocence and curiosity and fuck, this wasn’t making it any easier. “Shit—I mean, I don’t…”

“Don’t what?”

He squirmed again, for an entirely different reason. “Don’t exactly… mind…”

Dave’s eyes glowed, and a smile that was somewhere between earnest and predatory spread across his face. “Okay, that’s—damn you, honestly, that’s illegally adorable.”

“Davey…” It was meant to come out as a warning, but it ended up more like a whine as nails skimmed across the back of his neck.

“You mean I can hear that beautiful laugh whenever I want, and you _like_ it? You’re unreal,” Dave sighed, and leaned in to catch Klaus in a sweet kiss before he could argue.

Klaus melted into it a little (okay, sue him, he loves this boy) and was completely caught off guard when electric sensation shot up from his waist, right where a teasing hand was tickling over the waistline of his pants. He jumped again, trying to contain his yelp, and his hands shot out to catch Dave’s around the wrists, stilling his fingers.

“Wait, please, I can’t—”

“Can’t what?”

Klaus could feel his face going hot. “Can’t… can’t promise that I’ll be able to keep quiet.”

Dave’s wolfish grin was back. “Well then,” he whispered, gently freeing his hands from Klaus’ grip. He placed them threateningly over the juts of his lover’s hipbones, and Klaus let out a helpless giggle that only encouraged Dave’s smile. “Guess this’ll be a pretty dangerous game we’re playing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr: spritewrites
> 
> Originally posted on Tumblr on 11/26/20


	5. Day 5 - Five

When they were kids, the Umbrella Academy didn’t learn many life skills. Or, maybe that’s reductive; they certainly learned how to load an assault rifle, hack into a government computer on eight different systems, or hotwire a jet ski. But when all was said and done, they were four thirty-year-olds and one grumpy sixty-year-old who didn’t know to separate their whites from their darks _before_ they stuck their clothes in the washing machine. Vanya was… appalled might be a good word for it.

Thus, Operation Life Hack began. It was also known as Operation “Oh God, My Siblings Don’t Know A Damn Thing.”

Phase 1 (it needed phases; mission terminology was the best way to get the Umbrella Academy to understand anything) was cleaning. Grace loaned them a lot of the equipment she used, and Vanya showed them how to dilute bleach, remove stains, and wax floors. Diego got the hang of it quickly (it was just a scaled down version of what he did at the gym), but Luther struggled to get to the hard-to-reach places behind furniture. Phase 2 was laundry, which went remarkably well, but Vanya was most nervous for Phase 3: cooking.

The siblings were huddled around the kitchen table, peering over one another’s shoulders at the recipe laid flat before them.

“Okay,” Vanya began, catching their attention. “What do you already know?”

“I can scramble an egg,” Luther offered.

“I can make ramen,” Diego added, not to be outdone. Vanya sighed. Okay, long day it is.

An hour later, five well-meaning superheroes (and one exasperated superhero) were about two-thirds into a three-course meal. Allison had come in knowing how to boil water, but quickly learned that you weren’t supposed to keep the lid on the pot after the pasta started cooking. Similarly, Luther had his giant hands wrapped around the world’s smallest pair of tweezers, carefully picking out pin bones from the fish.

Some of the other siblings were faring slightly better. Turns out, the drugs had given Klaus an affinity for chemistry, and he was elbows-deep in a bowl of biscuit dough at this point. Diego was so adept at knives that he was an unexpected expert at chopping vegetables, dicing the onions and mincing the garlic without ever once cutting himself. (He did shed some tears at the onions, though, which the others made fun of him for.)

Vanya, however, wasn’t paying much attention to them anymore. Her focus was directed at her oldest brother, who was flouring the counter for Klaus. Five wasn’t much of a team player, and on top of that, cooking clearly wasn’t his thing. His brows were knitted firmly, and he kept flinching anytime somebody so much as brushed past him. He already wasn’t used to eating real food, preferring either pure sugar or canned vegetables and spam, and the crowded, chaotic setting of a kitchen wasn’t putting him at ease.

With a sigh, Vanya set down the instructions for the fish and sidled up next to him. He glanced up to acknowledge her approach, but he hid his discomfort behind a wall of concentration. His whole front was covered in flour, so clearly the task needed some focus. Vanya softened at the sight. Operation Life Hack was temporarily put on hold in favor of Operation Make Five Smile.

“You want an apron or something?”

Five rolled his eyes, grabbing a rolling pin from a drawer. “This whole cooking thing is nonsense. Operation Make Life Harder.”

Vanya raised an eyebrow and elbowed his side. “Yeah? What’re you going to do, get a job? Buy food instead?”

“I can just steal it,” he shrugged. “Blink in, blink out. Never know I’m there.”

A laugh escaped her, despite her best efforts. “I thought the whole point of the apocalypse being stopped was that we were _avoiding_ committing crimes.”

“What’s a little petty theft among family?” Five retorted, but he was grinning. _Score._

Across the room, Allison let out a yelp as a little bit of hot water splashed out onto her hand. “I’m okay!” she groaned, but the noise had already made Five jump. A handful of flour burst out of the bag he was holding, spilling down his already dusty front. Vanya clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from giggling.

“Here, you’ve got some – I’ve got it.” She smiled, reaching for him, but Five ducked out of range. His nose wrinkled, and for a second Vanya could see the old man that he really was.

“I can do it,” he grumbled, rubbing at his shirt. The flour smudged, but stubbornly refused to come off.

“No, you’re – here, I can—” Vanya insisted, grabbing the fabric and scrubbing firmly at his stomach. Five’s whole body jerked backwards, stumbling right into Klaus.

“Hey!” his brother protested, shoving Five off and back into Vanya.

Five, for his part, was thoroughly rattled. “I can do it, I said,” he tried again, but Vanya knocked his hands away.

“You can’t get the flour off if you have it all over your hands too, here—” She snatched a wrist and started brushing at it with her shirt sleeve. For the first time, an actual giggle rang through the kitchen.

“S-stop it, you’re t—I can handle it,” he snorted, twitching in her grip. Honestly, he’d forgotten how ticklish he was there – but Vanya hadn’t. She grinned as she dropped her shirt sleeve in favor of scratching at his palm with her fingernails. This time, Five jumped so hard that he nearly toppled over, tugging uselessly at his wrist and falling over himself with giggles.

A presence behind him made him gulp. “Aw, I forgot about that spot,” Klaus teased over his shoulder. “Is this one still bad too?”

Five shrieked and kicked out as the backs of his ribs were attacked with devastating pokes. Vanya tried to keep a grip on his hand, she really did, but the sight of her brother spasming with laughter as he frantically tried to keep his balance was too much for her. She started laughing too, hard, letting his wrist slip out of her grasp. With the loss of that stability, Five finally lost his battle with gravity, slipped away from Klaus, and ended up sprawled on the tile, gasping for air.

When he found the strength to look up, he found his entire family standing over him, not even trying to stifle their laughter. Five wrinkled his nose.

“You’re all assholes.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Diego cried.

“Not _yet_ ,” Five sniffed, propping himself up on his elbows and brushing fruitlessly at the flour that still clung to his shirt.

“Actually,” Allison smirked. “You’re right. We haven’t done anything yet.”

Five’s cleaning efforts stopped short, and he scrambled back – only to run up against Klaus’ knees. “No. No no no, wait—”

Operation Life Hack was largely unsuccessful, and Vanya still ended up scrubbing their dishes more often than not. Still, if she could make her family smile, then that was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr: spritewrites
> 
> Originally posted on Tumblr on 11/28/20


	6. Day 6 - Ben

Ben ducked around a corner, skidding in his Academy loafers. He glanced around the room once, wildly – a dead end, Dad would definitely deduct points for that choice – but with enough hiding places that he figured he could stake out here for a while. Leave the others to chase their tails. He clutched the makeshift “flag” (a dish towel) tight to his chest, while his other fist was clenched between his teeth to stifle the sound of his breathing. Think, Benny, _think_.

A sound from the hallway startled him out of his stupor, and he dove behind a tapestry. Okay, not great. Not his best thinking. He’d just hide here for a second, until the odds left; then he’d pick a better spot. Maybe the cabinet that stood just adjacent to his wall, which he could see out of the corner of his eye. Slowly, hesitantly, he did a little shuffle in its direction.

Like a siren, a floorboard beneath his toe creaked. In Ben’s panicked mind, it echoed through the whole house, alerting his siblings to his whereabouts. He froze, the grip on the flag tightening, just as another sound came from the hallway outside – shoes stopping short, just beyond the room where Ben was (not very well) hidden.

He sucked in his breath to try and make himself as thin as possible beneath the tapestry. If he could keep quiet enough, maybe they’d give up and move on, and he could get to a better hiding spot.

“Oh, Ben…” A singsong voice drifted into the room, with a set of footsteps to match. _Shit._ Allison. “I know you’re in here. I can hear Them.”

With a small gasp, Ben clutched his arms around his stomach. He’d completely forgotten about the Horror giving him away. The footsteps stopped, and he clutched the flag tighter. Even if she found him, he vowed, she wouldn’t take the flag. The evens hadn’t won Capture the Flag in months, and he was determined to break their streak.

“Come on out,” Allison was saying, much closer to his tapestry now, and the Horror squirmed in his stomach. One of the tentacles brushed over his skin from the inside, in that strange, sensitive way that the Horror always did, and Ben couldn’t stifle his gasp. In a flash, the thick fabric was gone, and the gleeful face of his sister filled his vision.

“Gotcha!” Allison cried, and Ben shrieked as he was yanked from his hiding spot.

“Stop it! Help!” he shouted, trying to twist his arm out of her grip without losing hold of the flag.

“Your team can’t save you now!” Allison crowed, making a mad grab for the flag and just barely catching the corner. Ben jerked back in surprise, tripping over the edge of the carpet and sending both of them tumbling to the ground.

They rolled, shoving and kicking to try to wrench the cloth out of the other one’s grip, and in the tussle, Ben let his concentration slip. Without his total focus on containing the Horror, he felt that dreadful stroking on the inside of his stomach again, and he doubled over. Even after years, he was never prepared for how much that freaking _tickled_.

Allison must have seen his concentration waver, because she was on him in a second, pinning him down and pulling desperately on the flag. “Odds forever!”

Ben managed to keep his grip, his fist clenched white on the cloth that would secure his team’s victory, but he could feel giggles creeping up his throat as _something_ continually prodded at his tummy from the inside. Shit, he had to keep his laughter down, if Allison found out—

“Are you… laughing?”

Damn.

Allison was looking at him incredulously, not releasing the flag but not quite focused on it either. “Are you okay?”

“It’s—it’s the—” was all Ben managed before he completely broke down; his grip on the flag loosened to barely clinging fingertips as he clutched at his stomach portal with the other hand, laughing hysterically. His eyes squeezed shut, trying to keep back the tears of mirth, so he barely registered as Allison’s pin shifted.

A few pokes to his midriff shocked him out of his laughing fit, not because they were any sort of change in the already overwhelming sensation, but because they were _external_. Ben’s eyes popped open to see Allison grinning down at him. The siblings were used to Ben’s occasional fits of giggles, usually when he was riled up and couldn’t focus on keeping the Horror inside. Having what could basically amount to a tickle monster living inside his stomach was a pretty unfair strategic flaw, in Ben’s opinion. He could see in her eyes, though, that she wasn’t above using that to her advantage.

“Giving up so soon?” she teased, giving the flag another tug as she spidered her nails up his side. Ben squealed, curling into the touch, but found the strength to clench his fist once more around the flag.

“N-never! Evens forev—ack!”

A hand tickled over his ribs, and he shook with giggles, squirming helplessly. Then, an opening – he kicked out once, hard, and tried to crawl away, clutching the flag.

“Victory! We – _hey_!”

Allison pounced once more, landing on his back and digging her hands into his sides. “Not so fast!”

Ben shrieked louder than ever, falling back into desperate laughter. His legs kicked helplessly, his loafers getting scuffed by the floor and his uniform wrinkling as he rolled, trying to dislodge his sister. Allison’s evil fingers managed to sneak their way under his blazer and Ben could have cried, he really could, if he escaped with his life it would be a miracle among—

“EVENS FOREVER!” came the cry from the doorway, and Klaus – blessed Klaus – tackled Allison off of Ben and onto the carpet. For a second, Ben could barely process what was happening, and he focused on breathing precious oxygen back into his lungs. Then, a shriek; Klaus had wedged a hand into Allison’s underarm and was launching a vicious attack.

Ben moved to help (and okay, yeah, maybe it was a bit of revenge), then realized that the flag, that had been in his hand just a second ago, was gone. He spun to find Five, all smug dimples and quick fingers, holding the fabric up to Ben’s nose.

“Odds forever!” he yelled, blinking away before Ben could so much as open his mouth. Furious, Ben took off out the door, leaving his sparring siblings behind. If he could just catch Five, he was certain, he could still be the evens’ hero.

Besides. He was one of the only ones who knew about Five’s knees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr: spritewrites
> 
> Originally posted on Tumblr on 11/28/20


	7. Day 7 - Vanya

Vanya liked to practice in the mornings.

When the dew had hardly misted, she was typically rolling out of bed and into the early dawn, dressing quickly, and opening her shades to the sunlight. The acoustics were best in the mornings, she said – something about humidity and the wood of the house, Ben didn’t really understand it. But she was their rooster. Every morning, like clockwork, he would open his eyes to the sound of the violin down the hall. And every morning, he would roll over, try to catch a few more minutes of sleep, and smile.

She’d tried to show him a few times, but it never really stuck. He couldn’t get a decent sound to come out, so he usually just ended up listening to her play. Maybe he was more of a woodwind person. Or guitar, he’d always wanted to learn guitar. Maybe someday.

Today was one of those days – one of their evenings off, when it was just Ben and Vanya. They had run out of card games, and the bird watching wasn’t very good in the rain, so they retreated to Vanya’s room to pull out the violin. The strings were already tuned from her morning practice, so they could jump right into “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” Vanya always said that once he mastered “Twinkle, Twinkle,” it was on to Bach – but they had never managed to get past the second line.

“Pretty sure this is hopeless,” Ben said with a rueful smile as Vanya positioned her hands over his.

“You’ll get it eventually,” she replied encouragingly, and handed him the bow. Okay. Okay. “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” Doable.

The horrific screech that came out of the instrument actually made Vanya clap her hands over her ears. “Okay, um, that was…”

“I can’t do it,” Ben complained, holding out the violin for her to take. “You’re the prodigy.”

Vanya flushed. “Well, prodigy’s kind of a strong word, but – here, why don’t I play, and you hold your hands over mine? To feel where your fingers are supposed to go. Come here, stand behind me…”

Ben slotted in behind his shorter sister, wrapping his arms around in almost a hug and placing his hands gently over hers. Her hands were soft, not like the rest of theirs, which were calloused from training. Ben blinked once, slowly, trying to think if Vanya had ever been part of any training. Nothing came to mind. She was always up here, in her room, just her and the violin. Must be lonely.

“Okay, so you hold the bow between these fingers like this, and you have to be gentle. Watch me.”

The first notes were like magic, so different from the abysmal racket that he’d made with the instrument just a moment ago. This music flowed like honey, slow and effortless, pure. Ben sighed, closing his eyes and letting himself get lost in the sound.

Abruptly, the music stopped. He opened his eyes again, curious, and realized that Vanya was tense beside him.

“You okay?”

“Yes, um, just… Could you back up a little bit? From my neck? Your breath…”

“Oh, sorry, do I smell bad?” Ben laughed, disentangling himself from her arms. Vanya huffed out a laugh.

“No, no, it’s just… My ears are ticklish.”

For a moment, Ben stared blankly at her, then broke into a smile. “Oh?”

“Y-yes,” Vanya stammered, a helpless grin curling the corners of her lips. “But don’t—”

“I won’t make fun of you,” he assured her, trying to hold back his own laughter. It struck him suddenly that although the Hargreeves siblings had engaged in many tickle fights over the years, Vanya had never been a part of any of them. If she had, he might have known about this.

He looked up to see Vanya narrowing her eyes at him playfully. “You’re not going to take advantage of this, are you?”

Ben let out a startled laugh, holding up his hands. “I won’t, I promise!”

“Good,” she smirked, turning back to her violin. “Because I already know about your ticklish spots.”

“You do? How?”

“I watch you guys,” Vanya shrugged, like it was nothing. “And I see you poking at each other during sparring, even if Dad doesn’t.”

Ben smiled at that. Trust Vanya to be the most observant of the family. “You should join us.”

“Nah, the others wouldn’t want me to. Besides,” she added with a mischievous look, “I’d win.”

“No, you wouldn’t!” Ben cried indignantly, but he was cut off by a squeak as a poke found the spot right below his ribcage that made him double over.

“Wouldn’t I?” Vanya giggled. Ben felt heat rising to his cheeks, but he couldn’t seem to fight the smile on his face.

“Careful,” he replied, wiggling his fingers in her direction. “Now I know your ticklish spot too.”

Vanya seemed to falter for a moment, but valiantly stood her ground. “Just one.”

“Oh, there’s more?”

“I – Wait, no, Ben!”

Dropping the violin on her bed, Vanya took off down the hall, laughing hysterically, with her brother hot on her heels. Ben wasn’t too worried. They had years of tickle fights to catch up on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr: spritewrites
> 
> Originally posted on Tumblr on 11/30/20

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: spritewrites
> 
> Originally posted on Tumblr on 11/23/20


End file.
